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Justice Updates – June 18, 2019

Posted on June 18, 2019

Don’t forget to cast your vote for or against the Corporate Stance to Abolish the Death Penalty. The deadline is June 26 and you can vote for the stance either by paper or on line. Here is the link for on line voting. The ballot is attached here. If you use the paper ballot, please send it to Ms. Crystal Henderson, 2320 Airport Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43219. It must be postmarked by June 26.

This Thursday, June 20th, is World Refugee Day. There are several things you can do to help them.

Educate yourself. Why do refugees leave their country? Is there a connection between human trafficking and the refugee crisis? Check out this statement from Catholic Sisters Against Trafficking.

Call your representative and Senators and urge them to support two pro-refugee bills, the GRACE Act and the NO BAN Act. (There’s more information on these in my blog.)

Say this prayer each day to remind yourself of their plight.

God our refuge,

You share the journeywith migrants and refugees,lightening their footsteps with hope.For you, Lord, are closeto the broken-hearted.

Pour out your Spiritupon world leaders.May they see the tragediesof our human family,and be moved to respond withwisdom, compassion and courage.

Open our eyes and heartsto the God-given dignityof all your people.Move us to welcome our neighbors,and so bear witness to your love.Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

The U.S.’s 1500th execution. This year, the United States is scheduled to mark a troubling and shameful milestone: it is the 1500th prisoner execution since Gary Gilmore was the 1st person executed in 1977. On June 20 at 7:00 pm EDT, the state of Georgia is scheduled to execute Marion Wilson, Jr. for the murder of Donovan Corey Parks. If carried out, this will be execution #1500.

Microplastics are everywhere including in the food you eat. Read more about this problem in this article from National Public Radio.

Global climate change is impacting people and the environment in many ways. The Sisters of Mercy have laid this out in an excellent chart. How does it impact our chapter commitments?

A new exhibit, Nuns Healing Hearts Photo Exhibit, has opened in the Vatican. The exhibit is a collection of photographs taken throughout the past year by Lisa Kristine, a photographer who has photographed many who have been affected by human trafficking. The exhibit will be in New York at the United Nations on Monday, July 29 and Tuesday, July 30. If you can’t get there in person, check out this virtual tour. The Nuns Healing Hearts campaign was launched on May 10, 2019 by Pope Francis. It marks the 10th anniversary of Talitha Kum, the international network of Catholic Sisters dedicated to ending the practice of human trafficking and exploitation around the world.

Why isn’t the church and its members standing up for gun safety? National Catholic Reporter explores this in the article, “US gun ‘idolatry’ demands more prophetic church stand, some Catholics say.” The notion of sacrifice has been on the mind of Susan Bigelow Reynolds a lot recently. After the Colorado shooting in May, her social media feeds were full of posts — including from fellow Catholics — with Bible quotes celebrating the student who was killed tackling the gunman. In those posts, she’s starting to see a disturbing, dangerous and distracting narrative around the idea of “sacrificial love.” “That kind of selflessness should move us, obviously, but on a deeper level it should horrify us,” Reynolds said. “Our lawmakers have left our children for dead, right? They’ve left them to fend for themselves. I can think of no more thorough failure of moral leadership really than what we’re witnessing right now.”

Congratulations to Marriott Hotels who are implementing mandatory training for all employees to recognize signs of human trafficking. Over 500,000 employees are being trained.

One response to “Justice Updates – June 18, 2019”

According to your blog and publications, you are Globalists, not Christians.

US Catholic Bishops have this year publicly stated that countries have the right to protect and control their Borders.
(like any Christian with half a brain needed to be told that).
Your chart on ‘climate change’ is a total joke and devoid of fact.
‘Gun control’, are you serious?? Did Jesus focus in the Gospels on the amount of spears Rome was producing?
The darkness which has infiltrated your organization will be exposed by light of our Lord and the Holy Spirit.